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Author: Alan

Just Brakes Austin Review

Just Brakes Austin Review

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Just Brakes

Last time I got an oil change at Lamb’s they told me I needed new brake pads on my rear wheels.  They said I may not make it to my next oil change, said they were about 80% worn.  It would cost just over $200 for them to replace them.  I passed thinking I would get a second opinion or see if I could get it done cheaper.  1100 miles later, and after several weeks of nervous driving,  I searched online for a brake place in Austin and decided to stop early this morning on my way to work at this Just Brakes store: Just Brakes on 183 N.

It was a rainy morning,  traffic was bad but I was the only one there when I arrived at 7:20 (they open at 7:00).  They were situated between a Lube & Oil place and a full service car repair shop. All three shared the same parking area!

Well turns out the store manager Jason said that Lamb’s probably exaggerated and that I wasn’t in dire need to replace the break pads.  My car lease was up in two months and there really wasn’t any reason to spend even the $99 for all 4 wheels that Just Brake offers.

How refreshing to deal with an honest repair shop.  Jason showed me the break pads and made me feel good about his assessment.  He stated they find the problem in the car not the customer, which addressed what I’m sure he knows is a common fear people have of dealing with car shops.

If you search Google for “Just Brakes” you will notice some hits for consumer complaints or rip-off reports related to Just Brakes.  You’ll find similar hits on other car shops like Brake Check.   I read these reports with a grain of salt.  I know that in ANY business there will be complaints and that the complainers are the most vocal. But still, it made me a little nervous this morning as I headed to Just Brakes without a reservation (Break Check advertises 20% off if you have an appointment!).

I am happy to report that I had a terrific experience with Just Brakes and am thankful that Jason was there to greet me.

CGI programming

CGI programming

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I’ve never had an opportunity to work with CGI until now.  CGI is defined on wikipedia this way:

 

The Common Gateway Interface (CGI) is a standard protocol for interfacing external application software with an information server, commonly a web server.

The task of such an information server is to respond to requests (in the case of web servers, requests from client web browsers) by returning output. Each time a request is received, the server analyzes what the request asks for, and returns the appropriate output. The two simplest ways for the server to do this, are the following:

  • if the request identifies a file stored on disk, return the contents of that file;
  • if the request identifies an executable command and possibly arguments, run the command and return its output

CGI defines a standard way of doing the second. It defines how information about the server and the request is passed to the command in the form of arguments and environment variables, and how the command can pass back extra information about the output (such as the type) in the form of headers.

 

Here is a great getting started article on CGI.

Methods GET and POST in HTML forms – what’s the difference?

Form Post Tester/Viewer

Monsters vs Aliens 2009 (G)

Monsters vs Aliens 2009 (G)

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Monsters vs Aliens

Monsters vs Aliens

 

 

Monster vs Aliens *** Animation was great, it was entertaining and funny.  It did not rise to the level of  The Incredibles.  I didn’t think the story was that strong or engaging.  I found the monsters so arbitrary and hard to really care about, except for Susan who wasn’t really a monster.  Kids loved it, of course.

Paintball around Austin

Paintball around Austin

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There are three primary fields I know of around Austin.  We’ve been to Hill13 the most because it is the most convenient to us.  I have not been to Texas Paintball but I know it is a much larger place and a more expensive than Hill13.  Some of David’s friends that have been there prefer Hill13. They particulary did NOT like crack house field at Texas Paintball.  They actually quit in the middle because they were too intimidated at being “trapped” in the crack house.  David and I visited Extreme PB years ago and liked it. We hope to return soon.  Here are comparisons of the three fields:

 

Texas Paintball (No  outside paint allowed)
Reviews: http://www.pbreview.com/fields/reviews/639/
Price:     $41.95 (500 rounds) $15 field fee
Paint:    $43 1000 rounds, $78 2000 rounds

Hill13 (Outside paint for personal guns allowed)
Reviews:http://www.pbreview.com/fields/reviews/2956/ 
Price: $40 (500 rounds). $12 Field Fee, $8 all-day air
Paint:  $17 500 rounds, $30 1000 rounds, $57 2000 rounds. They charge $8 for allowing you to use your own paint unless you previously bought it there.

Xtreme Paintball (No outside paint allowed)
Reviews:              http://www.pbreview.com/fields/reviews/2562/
Price:                     $40 (500 rounds, includes NXE Pack (pods & belt) )
CO2 Refill:           $19,12oz $2 20oz $5 all-day
Paint:                   $35/$40 1000 rounds $60/$80 2000 rounds

Other field not visited:

Outlaw Paintball Field (Pflugerville)